Doubt: The Essence Of Fear - Luke 12:4-5

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” - Luke 12:4-5

    Fear. It permeates human life. Our fears may not constantly hinder us in our daily life but you can be assured that it only takes a split second for fear to raise itself into our consciousness. Given the right catalyst, our fear will jump upon us like an armed bandit, stealing our courage as well as our peace of mind. Fear is a powerful enemy of confidence. It rips away our joy and comfort. It eats our contentment like a ravenous wolf. And fear is a symptom of our sinful hearts. “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” - Hebrews 3:12.
    Most of the things which drive fear into our hearts are actually nothing to fear. With the right frame of mind and heart, we need never fear rejection by others, our families, inadequacies, the street judgment of our peers, gossip, back-biting, nor our own shortcomings. Issues such as these may require our attention in a season but to live in constant fear of them distorts both our vision of the world and of ourselves. It certainly doesn’t take an oracle to discern that worrying also restricts our view of God and diminishes our opportunities to focus on all the good He has planned for us. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11.
    Fear is certainly driven by uncertainty and that lack of confidence opens up the anxious fields of conjecture, indecision, and suspicion. These are all satanic conditions of the heart and mind. The devil has always known how, when, and where to sow the seeds of doubt. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” - Genesis 3:1.
    The simple fact is that we begin to fear when we begin to question God, not in seeking His divine guidance in a prayerful manner, but when we question Him about His faithfulness and promises. The sin is obvious: we see the carnal world, its terrors and tribulations yet we, in all our worldly experience, decide for ourselves that it is not the world we must doubt but God! After Jesus Christ condescended to die upon a cold, hard wooden cross to save us - we still choose to doubt Him. And believe me; when we come to the place where we doubt Jesus Christ, that is the essence of fear. We all either worship Christ or we worship Satan. Those who claim atheism as a hedge have simply been manipulated by the devil to believe we have a third option; we do not!
    When Jesus was speaking to His disciples, He said to ‘fear Him’ who has the authority to cast them into hell. He spoke of the Triune God, not of the world or the enemy. Yet we still seem to fear everyone and anyone but God. The devil has no power to cast us into hell. The devil has no power over us but that which we grant him when we doubt God. Humanity has it all backward. We should be doubting Satan and fearing God rather than the other way around. Satan has never provided us with a single good thing; remember that! It has always been and always will be God who brings the sunshine and the rain. It is God who brings life and the providence needed to sustain it. It is God who blesses us with each and every day of our lives. Yet it is God that we choose to doubt. Take this into your hearts; it is Christ who said - “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” - John 14:27.
    The adage is true: “No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace.”

Forgiving And The Prisoner Of Pain -Matthew 6:12

“. . . and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” - Matthew 6:12

    I have a dear old friend (let’s call him, John). I’ve known him since high-school and have never been able to talk to him about God. You see, I have tried on numerous occasions to discuss faith in God and related issues. Unfortunately, my old friend has always abruptly ended our conversations with a dismissal of any point I was trying to make. Then he would immediately shift the subject to sports or some other likewise inconsequential subject. It is for this reason that I sadly admit I have failed to ever engage him on the more weighty subjects of eternal salvation and the grace of God.
    The end of our attempts at discussing God came one night when I was trying to explain to him that God will forgive us our transgressions if we but go to Him in prayer and contrition. “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” - Proverbs 28:13. But my friend remained adamant.
    He countered, “So you’re telling me that if I murdered someone then turned right around and asked for forgiveness, God would forgive me?”
    “The scenario you have described has probably never happened in history; however if your confession and contrition are sincere? Yes, absolutely,” I responded.
    “I don’t believe that.”
    John’s refusal to believe God’s promise led me to two startling revelations about him.
    1) He neither believes God nor trusts Him.
    This mistrust is the most revealing facet of his disbelief. It’s not that God is not trustworthy but the fact that forgiving others is the true source of his discontent And that brings us to number 2) If God will forgive us then it only follows that we must forgive others who have hurt us with their words or deeds. And herein lies John’s greater problem: he cannot bring himself to forgive his own father, who abandoned the family when he was just a child. It wasn’t a generic divorce where time is divided equally between mom and dad. His father left the family and never made contact again. This is an old wound that has continued to fester throughout John’s life. Understandably, his anger and hurt continue to feed one another to this very day. John seldom speaks about the abandonment anymore but it is clearly behind his reluctance to forgive and it remains a pillar of all his other beliefs and attitudes.
    I pray for John constantly. I pray that he would see that none of us are without sin and all of us need forgiveness. “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” - Psalm 130:3. I pray that he will see God’s desire for humanity. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” - Ephesians 4:32. And I pray that John’s hardened heart may one day be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” - Colossians 3:12-13.
    John needs to allow his wounded heart to heal through the grace of God. His current attitude shows that only through Christ will healing come. It is only through Christ that joy will come. For the moment John is completely at the mercy of his pain and the satanic voice that continues to accuse. “How dare your father abandon you? How dare he even think that you are capable of forgiveness?” John remains a prisoner to his pain. And Satan is perfectly content in keeping him there. But Jesus Christ wants him to step up, to step forward - “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” - John 16:24.
    Sadly, John’s father passed away some time ago without fanfare as so many others who have hurt people and never bothered to ask for forgiveness. Not that John would have, but his father’s death robbed John of even considering it. It took the option off the table. I just pray that John would understand that forgiving is more for his peace of mind than for his father’s sake. When we forgive others it relieves us of the burden of carrying that anger and hatred like a weight upon our backs. And it shows that we have put our selfish pride in its place. Forgiveness doesn’t erase the crime; forgiveness allows us to cast the hurt behind us and move on.
    Unlike John, who remains a prisoner to his pain and may never know the peace that comes with forgiving, let us all pray that we will have reconciliation without limit in our forgiving hearts, knowing that God has forgiven us.

Depression, Anxiety, And Doubt - Matthew 26:42

Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” - Matthew 26:42

    Humanity is wracked by depression and anxiety and doubt. It is, in fact, part of the human nature to suffer from spiritual depression at times while other times we find ourselves overwrought by the angst-fed panic and so much doubt that we are no longer comfortable in our own skin. In fact, if you don’t think depression is in many ways spiritual in nature, depression isn’t your biggest problem. There is one specific cause for the ‘human condition of suffering’: the Fall from Grace. We may want to argue or contest the fact but we can look to history to see that depression and anxiety have existed from the moment Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden. “He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” - Genesis 3:24. Within the Garden of Eden, man knew perfection. Now, after his ‘fall’, man was forced out of perfection into a sin-filled world of suffering and death - “By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” - Genesis 3:19. It’s no longer about a perfect world. We are no longer, in this life, entitled to perfection. And whatever isn’t perfect is marred by corruption and brokenness.
    This corruption is the natural consequence of living in a fallen world. Humanity cannot escape it. Even the mother of Jesus could not escape it. “And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed  (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.’” - Luke 2:34-35. All her life Mary knew that Jesus had come on a mission. The pressure of knowing the future to the degree she did must have placed on unbearable weight upon her shoulders. Still, by the grace of God she ‘maintained.’ Despite the knowledge of her Son’s foretold fate, she recognized the necessity of His ultimate sacrifice.
“Mary answered, ‘I am the Lord’s servant. Let everything you’ve said happen to me.’ Then the angel left her.” - Luke 1:38. You see, Mary placed all her hopes in the promise she had received from God through His messenger, Gabriel - “And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!’” - Luke 1:28. Mary understood that she was the favored one of God and that He was with her! It was the soundest foundation she would ever have and the rock-solid authority for her unequivocal faith. No matter what she faced from that moment on, she knew the Lord was with her.
    And what of the Apostle, Paul? “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. There have been many an interpretation for the thorn in Paul’s flesh. We are not here to determine the proper interpretation but to acknowledge that it was so pressing Paul asked three times to be relieved of his suffering. God merely said, “My grace is sufficient for you.” And Paul, a man known to be content in all situations, was indeed content in the Lord’s surety. He would persevere in spite of his pain.
    Finally, even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was not immune to human doubt, insecurity, depression, and anxiety. Remember the ‘Agony in the Garden?’ “And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’ . . . Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’” - Matthew -26:37-39, 42. Jesus evidenced His true humanity when (1) He begged His apostles to remain with Him as His ‘support team’ and confessed the depth of His sorrow unto death; (2) He begged His heavenly Father to let ‘this cup’ (His fate) pass from Him . . . if possible. And (3) He returned a second time to prayer to make the same request of His Father, affirming that ‘if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’
    Our bouts with depression, anxiety, and doubt can paralyze us in place. They can keep us from carrying on our normal lives. They can cripple us and leave us defenseless when we are most vulnerable. They can make us strangers to ourselves and our families. They can keep us bedridden and sick for an incalculable time. They can steal our very lives from us. They could have also done so to Mary, Paul, and Jesus if they had not turned to God for help. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” - Psalm 46:1-3.
    Ask yourself just one question: if Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Paul, the Apostle who spread the Gospel, and Jesus Christ Himself turned to God in their moments of doubt and pain, why would you refuse to? As in Mary’s case, the end result did not change as Scripture needed to be fulfilled. As for Paul, he died in Rome never having found relief for the thorn, but His letters, through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, have saved billions. And Jesus completed His task despite the depression, anxiety, and doubt - “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst!’ . . . So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” - John 19:28,30. 
    Pills, diet, and lifestyle changes can’t work on their own without faith in God. And faith in God needs no help.

Bad Company - 1 Corinthians 15:33-34

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. - 1 Corinthians 15:33-34

    My dear mother, God rest her soul, used to tell me that I would be known by the company I kept. How right she was. But aside from being associated with the people I ran with something even more pernicious was taking place: I was actually becoming like them. “If they say, ‘Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse’” - Proverbs 1:11-14. “One purse,” an apt way to describe any affiliation that places you and the crew you associate with in one bag.
    The preceding example exemplifies people with near or certain criminal nature, but there are similar associations which, while not even remotely ‘criminal’, are just as corrupt and morally reprehensible. It may be the group of friends we hang out with. It could be that coworkers or school mates fit the bill. God forbid, it could even be members of our family or church! The one thing they all have in common is their immoral and godless way. “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” - 2 Timothy 3:2-5
    Scripture is clear on this issue - avoid these people and people like them at all costs. We will not merely be judged by the people you run with - you will be convicted with them! “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them . . .” - Ephesians 5:6-7. But what of family members and work relations? Are we to strain those relationships by giving them the cold shoulder?
    Jesus never minced His words. Perhaps we should seek an answer to the above question from Him. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” - Matthew 10:34-37. I can already hear the objections to Jesus’ words. Weak and mollifying Christian ministers will try with all their might to minimize the gravity of Christ’s words just to ‘keep the peace.’ But what did Christ Himself say? You see, this is how critical proper exegesis is when interpreting the words of the Bible. When Scripture tells us to separate ourselves from unwholesome people, it means it, and it doesn’t matter what their relationship is to us. We cannot allow unrepentant sin to enter through our hearts, minds, or front doors! “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? . . . Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you . . . .” - 2 Corinthians 6:14-15,17.
    Lord help us to keep ourselves clear of bad company less we are judged by the company we keep.

Why Do We Wait? - Acts 22:16

And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.  - Acts 22:16

    Another year has passed before us. Some things have changed while others have remained the same. But life is fragile and constantly in flux. Fragility is one of humanity’s greatest weaknesses. It is why we are born as vulnerable infants and hopefully only slowly, relative to the broadest definition of time, grow into self-sufficient adults. Our tastes change. Our likes and dislikes change. Our very personalities change as time moves ever forward. Change is, in fact, an earmark of humanity. So what does not change? What anchor or rock can we firmly attach ourselves to for stability? “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” - Hebrews 13:8.
    The question posed by the Apostle Luke is simple in regard to its basic concern. ‘Why do you wait?’ What is keeping us from acting in our best interests? Why are we seemingly more content with being adrift throughout our lives than being tethered to something we can truly count on? Do we really seek the dark and distant unknown? “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” - Matthew 8:11-12. The ‘sons of the kingdom’ refer to unbelieving Jews in Christ’s day. But as for the rest of contemporary humanity: why do we wait?
    The Apostle’s advice is tried and true - rise, be baptized, wash away our sins, call upon His name - all four are actions dependent upon us . . . or so it seems. It would be so easy if it were indeed the case. Just think; we could live out our lives as we see fit, then as we near the end of our lives in these perishable shells, resort to Luke’s advice - rise, be baptized, wash away our sins, and call His name; all of it, nice and tidy. But there are two problems with that line of thinking: one, we don’t know when our time will come and, two, we don’t know when Christ is going to return. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” - 2 Peter 3:10.
    We must remember that God will determine both our time to leave these earthly husks and when He will return. We must also remember that God will draw those to Himself who will be saved. “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”- Romans 9:16. We cannot save ourselves. That is why we must call on the holy name of Jesus to save us. “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” - Romans 10:13. And we know from Scripture that He is as good as the promise - “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” - John 6:37.
    We have lived another year by the grace of God. And what of the new year? Will His beneficent providence carry us through again on angelic wings? And what about the hour of our deaths? We’re not guaranteed even today, let alone tomorrow?  Perhaps it is fitting that Luke raises the stakes for us - “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’” - Luke 12:19-20.
     Since we have no assurance of even a moment longer in these frail human bodies, should we not heed God’s word to us?  “For he says, ‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” - 2 Corinthians 6:1-2. The new year is upon us. “ . . . why do we wait?”